1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication system, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for selecting access points.
2. Description of the Related Art
An easy and secure wireless network connection protocol is provided by devices with a Wi-Fi protected setup (WPS). Conventionally, a user needs to create a service set identifier (SSID) manually with wire equivalent privacy (WEP) or Wi-Fi protected access (WPA) to establish a secure wireless connection. However, related background knowledge is needed for the user to complete the conventional setup. During the connection process, the user has to input complicated encrypted passwords to acquire the wireless connection. In contrast, a station or an access point (AP) with the WPS is convenient for users to operate. Moreover, the station or the AP also works with encrypted mechanisms of WPA and WPA2 regarding information security.
At present, devices with the WPS can be enabled using 2 options: personal identification number (PIN) modes and push button configuration (PBC) modes. In the PIN modes, the user has to input a PIN to complete a connection. In the PBC modes, the user has to input push a button, either an actual or a virtual one, on both WPS devices to acquire a connection.
For the use of devices with the WPS, if a specific connection mode is set for an AP, a station intending to connect with the AP has to select the same mode set for connecting so as to establish a connection. Therefore, if a user intends to connect with the WPS APs enabled with PINs, the user has to select a correct AP, i.e., the AP is a WPS AP and is enabled with PINs, so as to complete a handshaking (verification) procedure for acquiring a connection. Therefore, a method and apparatus are needed for selecting an AP so as to speed up the connection process for establishing the connection between a station and a selected AP.